What is a Hero
by Lionna
Summary: Alex contemplates what truly makes a hero. Oneshot no pairing


Okay, so this is only the second thing I've posted on here. Don't be afraid to review with tips and the like. And if you feel the urge to flame, just remember what effect receiving a bad review like that has on your own work. A normal review, with useful advice, would be better all around, don't you think?

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What is a Hero?**_

Alex Rider stared at the blank paper, confusion and uncertainty splashed across his features. A simple English assignment really shouldn't hit so close to home, he thought. And for most of his classmates, it really wouldn't.

Alex glanced at the title, the only thing written on the paper. What is a Hero? He could imagine some other papers the teacher would get. Spiderman, Superman, and Batman covering the usual, obvious spectrum with some firemen and policemen thrown in by other students so they sounded deeper than their generic counterparts. But to Alex, this question deserved so much more than just a simple, mindless answer.

A hero was two people who, for their country, literally swam into uncharted waters, and were killed by a trap a madman had set. A hero was a man who sacrificed his own morals for national security. A hero was a young boy, who, when blackmailed, narrowly escaped death several times and prevented hundreds, if not millions, of deaths.

Scoffing at that last thought, Alex sat back. He hardly considered himself a hero, really. A real hero wouldn't need to be blackmailed to do all that. They saw it as their duty. If Alex had a choice, he wouldn't have been on any of the missions he had been sent on over the three years he had worked for MI6. And really, all of the destruction he had prevented was a direct result of self preservation. Real heroes didn't care about themselves, or their own safety.

Glaring at the unoffensive paper, Alex sighed and put the pencil to the paper. If he put any of that down, the teacher would either get suspicious, or would think he was crazy. No, it was better to write a generic paper than suffer through either of those scenarios. After all, the teachers already thought he was dealing or using drugs. He couldn't handle that on top of it.

An hour later 'What is a Hero By Alex Rider' was still the only thing written on his paper. He couldn't bring himself to choose the easy way out. Write it like a paper he would have written when his Uncle Ian was still alive, when he was still naive to the woes that plagued the world. When he would have still been a normal kid, popular, and safe.

But he was none of those things anymore. Alex Rider was the farthest thing from normal that one could find. Popular was no longer in his dictionary, due to the rumors about him being a druggie. And safe was something he didn't think he had ever been, now that he thought about it. As the son of an assassin/MI6 agent, and the nephew of another spy, not to mention his own escapades, there was no shortage of enemies that wouldn't love to have him in their scope. John and Ian Rider probably feared for him as he did for Jack. As someone who associated with those who angered the people eager for blood and revenge, they were always in danger. People who wanted to make him pay would have no problem killing Jack to accomplish that, and he had probably been in sniper sights long before he himself had been thrown into the world of espionage.

The Alex Rider who was unaware of these facts would probably have composed his paper with a mix of his favorite super hero and the war veteran who lived down the street.

That was it! War veterans! People who did anything for the safety of those they loved back home. They were the perfect medium between the drivel of someone who had no idea, and the cold, concise view who had too much of an idea.

Alex smiled and set to work, the thoughts invoked by the paper forgotten in a tide of new ideas.

Little did he know that Tom, who had the same class, had turned in his paper with only two word on it, and gotten an 'F' by an incredulous teacher. The only thing his had said was 'Alex Rider.'

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I have finished putting these thoughts into words.

Lionna


End file.
